MailerSend and Mailgun are services that deliver the automated emails an app sends, for developers and online stores. MailerSend is built for teams that also want text and chat messages. Mailgun is built for developers who want inbox testing and message checks beside the sending. Stores and MailerLite users fit MailerSend, while Mailgun suits developers who test before they send.
by Vercom
Pricing: Free 500 emails/mo; Hobby $6.30/mo for 5,000; Starter from $31.50/mo and Professional from $99/mo at 50,000 emails, billed yearly; Enterprise above 2M emails
MailerSend is an EU-hosted transactional email service with API and SMTP relay, inbound routing, webhooks, templates, SMS and WhatsApp add-ons and a free plan.
Pricing: Free for 100 emails/day; Send from $15/mo for 10,000 emails; Optimize add-on from $49/mo; Inspect add-on from $99/mo. Billed monthly only.
Mailgun is a transactional email API and SMTP relay for developers, with paid add-ons for deliverability monitoring, pre-send QA and email validation.
Transactional Email Services features side-by-side
Free 500 emails/mo; Hobby $6.30/mo for 5,000; Starter from $31.50/mo and Professional from $99/mo at 50,000 emails, billed yearly; Enterprise above 2M emails
Free for 100 emails/day; Send from $15/mo for 10,000 emails; Optimize add-on from $49/mo; Inspect add-on from $99/mo. Billed monthly only.
Choose MailerSend if you run an online store or already use MailerLite and want text messages beside email. Choose Mailgun if you build software and want to test inbox placement and preview messages before sending. MailerSend starts on a free plan, moves to monthly paid plans and sells higher plans by quote. Mailgun also starts free, then bills month to month.
Store owners and agencies that reach customers beyond the inbox get more from MailerSend. A paid add-on sends text messages, and another handles WhatsApp messaging. Split testing compares several versions of one email to see which one works better. Text messages reach phones in the US and Canada only, so that channel does not serve customers in other countries.
Developers who want to check a message before it goes out lean on Mailgun. A sandbox test mode accepts API calls and returns events without delivering any mail. Inbox placement testing shows where a message lands, and previews cover many devices and inbox clients. Both of those checks are sold as monthly add-ons on top of the sending plan.
MailerSend's users praise fast, human support and a smooth developer experience, with a simple API and clear documentation. Some report accounts suspended after spam complaints with little detail, and strict approval of new accounts that can take more than one attempt. Mailgun's reviewers like quick support that fixes problems, even on the free plan, and easy integration with good delivery. Others find accounts or domains locked with little explanation, and support that is slow on setup or account problems.
MailerSend describes a no-code education provider that sends course confirmations, account details and password resets, and deliverability stops being a concern for it. The provider also routes affiliate notifications and support inquiries through the same sending. Mailgun describes an ecommerce marketing platform whose email delivery and domain verification at scale run on the service. The platform cut a needless domain verification email step out altogether.
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